Universities brace against sour economy

There’s a lot of speculation out there about how New York’s universities will hold up in the midst of a crisis on Wall Street.

But it’s also speculated that the deflated economy could have a negative impact on universities around the country, as private funding drops off and state money becomes more scarce.

Norm Arkans, a spokesman for the University of Washington, said most of the $2.5 billion endowment cultivated by the university in a recent eight-year fundraising campaign has been invested, and he hadn’t heard of that portfolio diminishing significantly in value.

“We’re working hard like every one of the universities in the country to protect our assets in this time,” he said. “We think we’ll be okay, because we try to invest fairly conservatively.”

For the time being, the UW is “taking a breath” from the aggressive fundraising efforts of the last several years. Arkans said the university remains committed to its Husky Promise program, which guarantees full scholarships to students from low-income families.